


you (you got what i need)

by MooseFeels



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Cold, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Malnutrition, They love each other, anemia, he was on the run for a long time y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 14:54:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20932073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MooseFeels/pseuds/MooseFeels
Summary: Everything changes.(Lio gets cold now. Galo is worried.)





	you (you got what i need)

Lio can’t feel his hands.

There’s lots of things that change, after it all happens. There’s an all new government, for one. The governor and the entire body for the Freeze Force are brought to trial-- or rather, are  _ being _ brought to trial-- and there’s turnover and shuffle across everything. Because there’s no government apparatus to keep them on the run anymore, there’s suddenly a scramble for housing and services for the Burnish. Or, for the people who were the Burnish. 

Lio has a job now. He has an ID, with his name and his birthday listed on it. He goes to a grocery store, and the cashier has learned his name. 

And now, also, his hands and feet get cold. 

It’s novel at first. The tingling, cool, numb feeling in his fingers and toes. It takes him a little while to figure it out. Now though, it feels like it’s been  _ weeks _ since his extremities were actually warm. He feels like he’s tried everything. Hot water, socks, gloves. He can’t get them warm.

Lio stands in the kitchen, holding a mug of hot tea, looking at his hands. 

“--Lio?” Galo says, walking in. 

He hadn’t been paying attention. That was hard now, too. It felt like everything had been so  _ important _ for such a long time. Now, things are different. Now, there’s no running. There’s nothing that presses against him, pushing. It’s quiet and it’s still and Lio is very, very tired. 

“I’m sorry,” he says, and his voice feels a little quieter than he means it to be. “I didn’t hear you.”

Galo shrugs. “I was asking if you wanted to order in tonight,” he says. “Do you feel alright? You’ve been real quiet.”

“I’m fine,” Lio answers, automatically. 

Galo looks at him, eyes thoughtful and serious. “Okay,” he says. “Just tell me if you need something, okay? I was thinking we could do that pho place, for dinner.”   
Lio nods. 

Galo looks at him a moment more and leaves the kitchen. 

Lio puts the mug down. Flexes his fingers. 

God, he is so cold.

Galo knows his order, for all the places they order in from. Galo knows Lio pretty well-- Lio has been living with him while getting everything together that would make him able to get an apartment. It hadn’t even really been a conversation-- after Foresight had been put in cuffs and the Burnish had been released from the engine, Galo had just turned to him and said, “Let’s go home.” And Lio had gone because there wasn’t really anywhere else for him to  _ go.  _

Except, maybe, that’s not quite right. He thought maybe staying with Galo would be like it was when he was in safehouses on the run-- in the way and always at a hushed conversation. He thought maybe after a few days, Galo would show him to a hotel room or a tent in the woods. But instead, Galo asked him what kind of shampoo he used. Galo brought home a clothing rack and hangers to put in the living room, and then he brought home clothes for Lio to hang on the hangers. Dropped him off at the office on his motorcycle in the morning, picked him up sometimes in the evening. 

Galo wishes him a goodnight, every night, standing in his bedroom doorway, backlit by the meager light falling from behind the blinds. 

_ ‘Night, Lio _ . 

It doesn’t feel like Lio didn’t have anywhere else to go. It feels like maybe Lio was always supposed to be there and neither of them realized it.

Galo walks back into the kitchen and leans against the wall and says, “Food should be here in about an hour.”

Lio nods. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks. 

Galo is so fucking stupid. 

“No,” he says. “I’m  _ fine _ .” He picks the mug back up and walks past Galo into the living room. Sits down on the couch that’s also his bed and doesn’t make eye contact with Galo. It’s difficult. Galo lives in less of a flat and more of a  _ closet _ . Burning Rescue doesn’t pay great and housing in the city center doesn’t come cheap. It’s barely made for one person, much less two. 

Galo follows him. Sits down beside him, quietly. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lio says. 

Galo grabs his own shoulder. Frowns. 

“Sometimes, when you say that, you  _ do _ want to talk,” he says. 

It’s quiet between them again for a long, long moment. Lio tries to figure out what to say. He wishes he’d had the presence of mind to bring the mug in here. He could pretend to drink from it. Instead he flexes and closes his fingers, feels the ghost sensation of his too-cool nerves. 

“You should see a doctor about that,” Galo says. 

Lio flinches, on instinct. “About what?” he hisses. 

“I know that mug is hot,” he says. “The water’s boiling. But you’ve been holding onto it really tight. You’re always bundled up. I think you’re cold.” Galo pauses just a moment, looking down at the floor. “I’m...I’m not very smart, Lio, but I’m not stupid.”

Lio doesn’t say anything, just pulls a little closer around himself. 

“You...you were on the run,” Galo continues. “For a long time. Maybe you’re cold because there’s something wrong. Maybe a doctor could help.”

Galo leans a little bit, into Lio’s space, to catch his eyes. “I won’t make you go. I couldn’t make you go. But maybe it would help.”

Galo’s eyes are blue and trusting, worried. 

Galo knows what they did, what doctors did, to people like Lio.

Galo knows, but he also knows Lio maybe better than anyone else. 

God, that scares him. 

“I don’t like doctors,” Lio says. 

“I’d go with you, if you went,” Galo answers. “I could hold your hand.”

Lio is tired and cold, sitting on the couch beside Galo, who looks warm but worried. 

“There’s plenty of hot water, if you want to shower,” Galo says. “I showered at the station. I could-- I could maybe ask Aina about doctors in the area. Or I could show you the website for my doctor. The food would be here by then.”

There’s something sweet in Galo’s expression. Something hopeful and soft and kind. Lio doesn’t know how to feel when he looks at him like that. Like he  _ matters _ , not as a leader but as--

Lio nods. “I’ll take a shower,” he says. 

Galo smiles. “Okay,” he says. 

“Okay,” Lio answers. 


End file.
